When I was a kid I loved filling out the blow-in cards that came in the electronics magazines I was reading. I would dutifully check the boxes to receive information about electronics as a career, repairing TVs and radios from home, and other self-learning brochures. Pretty soon my parents' mailbox was filled with all sorts of direct mail pamphlets, and this continued through high school and long after I was in college.

You are about to read something that I bet you have never read before: The complete deconstruction of an opt-in, co-registration, email sweepstakes list. You know the kind I mean: sign up to receive a free "fill in the blank here" and opt-in to "receive messages from our marketing partners." Or should I say opt-out from receiving them since the check boxes are conveniently filled in for you. In fact, from now on when I say, "opt-in," think "didn't opt-out."

Welcome to something that's long overdue: a newsletter focused exclusively on email marketing. If you're working in the field, or simply interested in how email marketing might otherwise impact your business, the Email Insider, will help you filter through the morass of news, trends and developments that are making this one of the fastest growing - not to mention one of the most contentious - segments of the marketing world.